Kneecap Releases Powerful Film on Gaza Ahead of Glastonbury Performance
UNRWA chief says new Gaza aid system ‘has become a killing field’
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The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday issued a scathing condemnation of the new aid distribution system operating in Gaza, warning it has turned into a “killing field” where over 400 desperate people have died in the past month, Anadolu reports.
“The new aid distribution system has become a killing field,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a post on X. “Over 400 starving people reported killed since it started operating just a month ago. They were shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families.”
He was referring to the Israeli attacks that happened near points of its new aid distribution mechanism, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation— a new Israeli plan to coordinate aid distribution in Gaza, which was broadly criticized by UN agencies and humanitarian actors.
READ: UN chief says ‘search for food must never be a death sentence’ for Palestinians in Gaza
Lazzarini said testimonies emerging from the ground indicate that soldiers opened fire “indiscriminately” as crowds gathered for food. “In the chaos, children were separated from their families: disoriented and traumatized,” he added.
Blasting the system as incompatible with humanitarian principles, the UNRWA chief said it was “not designed to address hunger and is often justified using the pretext of aid diversion that is yet to be substantiated let alone proven.”
“Instead of ‘orderly food distribution,’ this system brings dehumanization, chaos and death,” he said. “This cannot become the new norm.”
Calling the current setup an “abomination,” Lazzarini urged a return to UN-led humanitarian deliveries, including through UNRWA, and called for an immediate ceasefire and the lifting of the siege to restore the flow of basic supplies such as food, medicine, soap, and fuel.
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Thoughts of the day 27 June 2025
UK Prime Minister and Likud party leader Keir Starmer obfuscates and hides his active participation in Israel’s Gaza genocide. While I currently have a relatively powerful platform, others will take my place if that changes and by the next election electors will be far better informed of Keir Starmer and the Labour party’s active participation in genocide.
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‘We just want to stop people being murdered’: Kneecap on Palestine, protest and provocation
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Two months after Coachella, and as they prepare for a Glastonbury festival appearance that has been criticised by among others, the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the leader of the Commons, Lucy Powell, the band say they are unfazed by the uproar. “Maybe visas get revoked, you’re not allowed in America again, it’s not ideal – but Jesus Christ, there’s people being bombed from the fucking skies, and people being starved to death,” says Chara, AKA Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh. “We’re in the process [of applying for new visas], hopefully it works. But if it doesn’t, I can go about my day without having to worry about my next meal or my family being bombed. Visa revoked, I can get over.”
Do the band regret what’s depicted in either of the widely circulated videos? “It’s a joke. I’m a character. Shit is thrown on stage all the time. If I’m supposed to know every fucking thing that’s thrown on stage” – in this case a Hezbollah flag – “I’d be in Mensa, Jesus Christ,” says Ó hAnnaidh. “I don’t know every proscribed organisation – I’ve got enough shit to worry about up there. I’m thinking about my next lyric, my next joke, the next drop of a beat.”
And the “dead Tory” comments? “Why should I regret it? It was a joke – we’re playing characters, it’s satirical, it’s a fucking joke. And that’s not the point,” he says. “The point is, that wasn’t an issue until we said ‘Free Palestine’ at Coachella. That stuff happened 18 months ago, and nobody batted an eyelid. Everybody agreed it was a fucking joke, even people that may have been in the room that didn’t agree – it’s a laugh, we’re all having a bit of craic. The point is, and the context is, it all [resurfaced] because of Coachella. That’s what we should be questioning, not whether I regret things.”
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I am only able to quote small sections of copyrighted articles. See the original article at https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/27/kneecap-on-palestine-protest-and-their-satirical-intent